A/HRC/22/56 reportedly being arrested and prosecuted on vaguely-worded national security crimes for exercising their beliefs. 61. Sources have reported that at least 13 Protestant Christians are currently held in detention centres across the Islamic Republic of Iran, and that more than 300 Christians have been arrested since June 2010. Those currently in prison include Pastor Behnam Irani and church leader Farshid Fathi, who are both serving six-year sentences on such charges as “acting against national security”, “being in contact with enemy foreign countries” and “religious propaganda”. Sources maintain that the evidence used against Mr. Fathi was related to his church activities, including distributing Persian-language Bibles and coordinating trips for church members to attend religious seminars and conferences outside the country. Several Protestant churches with majority Assyrian- or Armenian-speaking congregations have also been forced to cease Persian-language services; furthermore, it was recently reported that the Janat Abad Assemblies of God Church in Tehran, which held allPersian services, was shut down on 19 May 2012.67 62. The Special Rapporteur is also concerned that the right of Iranians to choose their faith is increasingly at risk. Christian interviewees consistently reported being targeted by authorities for promoting their faith, participating in informal house churches with majority convert congregations, allowing converts to join their church services and congregations, and/or converting from Islam. A majority of interviewees who identified themselves as converts reported that they had been threatened with criminal charges for apostasy while in custody, and a number of others stated that they had been asked to sign documents pledging to cease their church activities in order to gain release. 3. Dervishes 63. In interviews and in the information submitted to the Special Rapporteur continue to indicate that Gonabadi Dervishes, who are Shia Muslims, are subjected to attacks in their places of worship, and are arbitrarily arrested, tortured and prosecuted. Sources noted that, as at November 2012, 12 Gonabadi Dervishes remained in official custody, including four lawyers (Farshid Yadollah, Amir Eslami, Omid Behroozi and Mostafa Daneshjoo). Sources also reported that, on 12 December 2012, six Dervishes from the city of Kovar were tried in a revolutionary court in Shiraz, some for the capital offence of Moharebeh. 4. Other faith groups and spiritual practices 64. Representatives of the Yarsan, a religious minority active among Kurdish Iranians, reported that their religious gatherings were routinely repressed. Furthermore, the leader of the Yarsan, Seyyed Nasradin Heydari, is allegedly under house arrest. Yarsan who pass university entrance exams and profess that they practice the Yarsan faith are reportedly refused admission. The Special Rapporteur is also concerned about reports regarding the arrest of leaders of spiritual, semi-spiritual and meditation groups in the Islamic Republic of Iran; for example, sources reported that Peyman Fattahi, leader of the spiritual community of the El-Yasin, was detained for almost three weeks in October and November 2012. 67 “Protestant Church shutdown sparks fears of coming closure spree”, International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, 8 June 2012 (available from www.iranhumanrights.org/2012/06/protestant-church/); “Iranian Church closed down amid government concerns over church growth”, Mohabat News, 13 June 2012 (available from www.mohabatnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4756:iranian-churchclosed-down-amid-government-concerns-over-church-growth-interview&catid=36:iranianchristians&Itemid=279). 19